A manager at a technology company uses his weekends to teach schoolchildren of all ages Atayal ceremonies, dances and language.
Over the past 12 years, Wang Yung-hsiung (王永雄) — an Atayal from Tatung Township’s (大同) Sungluo community in Yilan County — has taught hundreds of students in northern Taiwan.
Having grown up in an Atayal community, Wang is fluent in that Aboriginal language. He moved to Taipei to find work after finishing junior-high school.
Photo: Shih Chih-ju, Taipei Times
When he turned 40, Wang learned the Wade-Giles system for writing romanized Chinese and used the system to help him pass the Atayal language proficiency certification test. He became a registered teacher of the language after taking additional training courses.
“It is very embarrassing to hear others wondering why an Aboriginal cannot speak their own language,” Wang said.
Recognizing that Aboriginal children growing up in the cities lack the environment in which to learn their native language, Wang, who lives in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Xindian District (新店), started driving around Taipei and New Taipei City on weekends to teach Aboriginal children the language.
Wang teaches using games, or by visiting the children’s families to introduce them to Atayal traditions and dances.
He also helped form basketball teams for girls in an effort to bring the people together, he said.
Wang said he had considered tatooing his face — as was customary for an adult Atayal — but his wife talked him out of it.
Wang said his wife initially had also been against his running around so much, complaining that he spent too little time with his family.
“She did not understand at the time,” Wang said.
However, as a compromise, he brought her along to classes on the weekends, he said.
Wang said he encourages his own children to use the Atayal language.
He said that upon his retirement in two years time, he would like to focus all his work on preserving Atayal traditions.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS